World Series Final Totals

Hey All,

As part of my official duties as commissioner of the Longball League, I congratulate the Invisible Hands for winning the Longball League World Series! The Invisible Hands are the 2013 Longball League Champions!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

They bested the Oxford House Elves 124-118.

The series went down to the wire and then some as the playoff game for the second American League WIld Card slot decided the title.

Rumor is that Invisible Hands owner Rod Weissler's favorite player now is Tampa Bay Rays Pitcher David Price.

The Commissioner would also like to thank everyone who took part in the league this season.  I hope you all come back for 2014.  After all, spring training is only about 150 days away.

So now, I leave us all to enjoy the MLB playoffs and the real World Series, but for now in the Longball League our game is called and I will sign off by quoting Grantland Rice...

Game Called

Across the field of play
the dusk has come and the hour is late.
The fight is done and lost or won,
the player files out through the gate.
The tumult dies, the cheer is hushed,
the stands are bare, the park is still.
But through the night there shines the light,
home beyond the silent hill.

Until next season folks, I'll see you back here when the grass is new and lush and everyone has pennant dreams.

-The Commissioner

World Series Week 1

Hey all,

Here's the totals form the first week of the Longball League World Series...

Invisible Hands: 53

Oxford House Elves: 49

Roster Moves
9/22
The Invisible Hands used an Injury Move to drop M. Cabrera DET and pick up C. Davis BAL

Neither teams has used their one Roster Move in this round of the playoffs.


This is a tight World Series and the Commissioner is wondering what to do in case of a tie.
Suggestions on this matter are wanted and encouraged.


-The Commissioner

LLDS WEEK #2

Hey All,

Here's the results of the LLDS!

LLDS #1

Oxford House Elves 86- Tax Dodgers 74

LLDS #2

Invisible Hands 107- Tatooine Womp Rats 92

Roster Moves

9/9/2013
The Invisible Hands used an injury move to drop F. Hernandez- SEA and pick up M. Scherzer- DET.

9/12/2013
The Invisible Hands used their one roster move to drop M. Scherzer- DET and picked up J. Verlander- DET

So, The World Series is set!!!!!!

Oxford House Elves v. The Invisible Hands

Can The Hands go wire-to-wire to win the crown or..

will the Elves bring home a second Longball League Crown to Maureen Lenker?

We'll know in two weeks.

-The Commissioner

LLDS Week #1

Hey All,

Here's the playoff series after week one...

LLDS #1
Oxford House Elves 42
Tax Dodgers 27

LLDS #2
Tatooine Womp Rats 45
Invisible Hands 29

Roster Moves

9/1/2013

The Tatooine Womp Rats used their one roster move to drop Justin Verlander- DET and picked up Yu Darvish- TEX.

The Womp Rats also used an injury move to drop M. Cabrera-DET and picked up A. Jones- BAL


-The Commissioner

Week 22

Hey All,

The regular season is over and the playoffs start today!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
So, who will win the big gaudy little-league-look-a-like trophy?
Only time will tell

Roster Moves
S.V. Coachwhips dropped J. Bautista-TOR and picked up C. Davis- BAL

Here's how the first round of the playoffs looks...

LLDS #1 Oxford House Elves v. Tax Dodgers
LLDS #2 Tatooine Womp Rats v. Invisible Hands

The winners of these two series will meet in the Longball League World Series!!!!!!!!

Note: The Playoffs started on 9/1/2013.  If anyone wants to use their roster move for the first round, I'll make the move retroactive to 9/1/2013.


Cool Baseball Card of the Week: 1970 Topps # 197- N.L. Playoffs Game #3

With the playoffs at hand. I thought I'd talk about playoff baseball cards. 1969 was the first season that baseball had split into divisions, so that required a playoff round to get to the World Series after winning your division.  Those playoffs were chronicled by Topps in the 1970 set. This card is classic.

It chronicles how Nolan Ryan CAME OUT OF THE BULLPEN to give the Mets a 3-0 sweep over the Braves and a trip to the World Series.  Yes, The Express was a reliever/ spot starter for the 1969 Miracle Mets when he was a 22-year old.

Until next week folks, remember that the playoffs are here!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

-The Commissioner

Week 21

Hey All,

There are now just six days left in the the Longball League regular season.  Where did the time go? Wasn't it just spring training yesterday? Here's what's up in the league this week.

Scoring Corrections
Last week I made two errors.
First, On the Inivsible Hands I credited 2 extra saves to Baltimore reliever J. Johnson.
Second, I gave Tax Dodgers pitcher Yu Darvish one extra win.

Both errors have been fixed and the scores are correct this week.

Roster Moves

There were no moves made this week in the Longball League.

Let's Talk Playoffs

The regular season ends after the games of August 31, 2013 are completed.  At that point, I will calculate the point totals and playoff matchups will be set.

Divisional Playoff Round: (September 1-14)
Division Winner with highest point total v. Wild Card Team with the lowest point total
Division Winner with the lowest point total v. Wild Card Team with the highest point total

Longball League World Series (September 15-29)
Winner 1 of the DPR v. Winner 2 of the DPR

Roster Moves: each team will get one roster move per round.  Injury moves are allowed just like in the regular season.

Playoff Roster: The roster each playoff team has on the final day of the regular season will be their roster for the playoffs.

A note on the final day of the Longball League World Series.  That day is the final day of the MLB regular season. If MLB regular season extends for a day to break tie, then the LLWS will be extended a day as well.

Cool Baseball Card of the Week: 1993 Takara Team Blue Wave #51 Ichiro Suzuki

A couple of days ago, Ichiro Suzuki notched his 4,000th hit in professional baseball.  Ichiro's total covers both his days in Japan and MLB.  Here's a look at his toughest rookie card.

We see Ichiro here sans the facial hair tracking a fly ball.  The card is a part of the Orix Blue Wave Team Set produced by Takara in 1993.  These are pretty darn hard to find. High grade ones go for around 1,000 dollars.  A high dollar card for a great great player.

Until next week folks, remember that you don't mess with a winning streak.

-The Commissioner

Week 20

Hey All,

The exciting final days of the Longball League are here.  There are just 13 days left in the regular season.  Pennant fever is in the air. Here's what's up in the league this week.

Roster Moves

8/12/2013
The Tatooine Womp Rats Dropped P. Fielder DET and added C. Davis BAL

Who's Hot and Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: The Yankees Alfonso Soriano checked in with a 6 HR 19 RBI week.

Not: Houston's Brandon Barnes struck out 11 times and hit a blistering .120 this week.

Pitchers
Hot: The Dodgers Clayton Kershaw went 2-0, struck out 16, with an ERA and WHIP of .056 for the week.

Not: The Angels Joe Blanton gave up 10 earned runs in just 4.1 innings with three home runs allowed to go with a WHIP of 3.23 and and ERA of 20.77 this week.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. The run the Dodgers are on is historic. I would love to quote some numbers on their winning ways, but with each new win, they are putting themselves in place for one of the greatest worst to first runs in the history of the game.

2. Anaheim's Joe Blanton sucks in the bullpen too. After giving up back-to-back dingers in the 9th inning of an 8-2 loss to the Astros, yours truly, the commissioner,  actually looked down into the Astros bullpen and asked Houston bullpen coach Dennis "El Presidente" Martinez if he could come out of retirement and pitch for the Angels. He laughed and and politely declined my appeal.

3. Could old Olympic Stadium be coming back to the majors? The  Montreal Baseball Project has started a feasibility study on the return of baseball to Montreal.  They actually believe Olympic Stadium could house another MLB team. Somewhere, Rusty Staub must be smiling.

Cool Baseball Card News of the Week: As apart of a look ahead to 2014 Topps Baseball, the company announced that 50 of the best rookie cards the company has ever produced will be given away through redemption cards in 2014 first series packs. I may finally get that '52 Mantle or the '56 Clemente. Ahh, to open packs, per chance to dream of greatness.

Cool Baseball Sticker Card of the Week: 1980 Fleer World Series/Team Logo Sticker Cards.

Back in 1980, Fleer produced a set of cartoon cards featuring World Series from 1940-1979 along with stickers on the other side.  You got five cards and stickers for a nickel. They were pretty popular with the kids back 33 years ago. Here's what two of the card sides look like.

Now, the stickers...

When I was 11, I they were pretty cool. They still look cool today. Don't you love that old Mariners logo? I personally dig the old Swinging Friar logo for the Padres.

Until next week folks remember that wild card races do make baseball more exciting.

-The Commissioner

Week 19

Hey All,

NFL preseason games filling the airwaves means that the Longball League season is almost over.  It should be a pretty exciting finish.

Roster Moves: There were no roster moves this week in the league.

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: Justin Morneau came out of nowhere with a 5 HR 12 RBI week for the Twins.

Not: Angels call-up Chris Nelson batted a blistering .194 with one walk this week.

Pitchers
Hot: Dodger hurler Zack Greinke went 2-0 and fanned 11 this week.

Not: Mariano Rivera racked up two blown saves for the Yankees this week.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. Oakland's Josh Reddick bashed five HRs over two consecutive games v. the Blue Jays this week.  This feat has only been accomplished 25 times in MLB history.  Reddick joins a pretty select group of players on this list.  A,,ong them are Stan Musial, Ralph Kiner. Dave Kingman, Gary Carter, and Billy Williams.

2. Can Chris Davis do it?  The Orioles slugger has 42 home runs so far this season and is in pace to hit 58 HRs.  Another big day or two could put him on pace to hit 60.  That would be fun to watch.

3. Some players hit the ground running and never look back.  Bob Feller was one of those players. In his first MLB game, Feller went the distance, striking out 15 St. Louis Browns en route to his first win.

Cool Baseball Card of the Week: 1990 Topps #414A- Frank Thomas (No Name on Front)

Most error cards in the hobby don't attract a great deal of attention. Only a handful of legitimate error cards carry a big money reputation and the 1990 Frank Thomas error is one of them. To put it simply, the card was printed with a good deal of the black that should have been around the border of the card along with Thomas' name missing from the front.  It was an error that was corrected very early in the print run thus creating the scarcity.  It goes for well over 1,000 dollars.  It's Funny what people will pay for cardboard.

Until next week folks, remember that anyone can be caught by the old hidden ball trick.
-The Commissioner

Week 18

Hey All,

The last month of the Longball League regular season is here!  Who will shine down the stretch and make the playoffs? Only time will tell.

Roster Moves

The Invisible Hands, San Pedro Sea Monkeys and AngelSox all dropped A. Pujols LAA due to injury.

The Invisible Hands and the AngelSox replaced Pujols with P. Goldschmidt ARI.  The San Pedro Sea Monkeys replaced him with C. Davis BAL.

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week:

Hot
Hitters: The Braves Brian McCann had a 3 HR 9RBI week.

Pitchers: Pittsburgh's Francisco Liriano won two games, and struck out 14 with an ERA 0.64

Not
Hitters: A-Rod.  He's not gonna be hot for awhile.

Pitchers: The Angels Bullpen, they've picked up 4 blown saves this week.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. It would have been cool.  If the Pirates had pulled off a five game series sweep over the Cardinals it would have been the first time the Cardinals had been swept in a five game series since 1916.

2. There was a pair of 15s on Sunday for two teams. The Indians picked up their 15th shutout of the season with a 2-0 win over the Marlins while the Cardinals got their 15 with a 15-2 win over the Reds.

3.

Cool Baseball Card of the Week: 1974 Topps #250B Willie McCovey

Back in late 1973, it looked like the San Diego Padres were going to be sold to a Washington D.C. area group that would move the team to nation's capital. That left the folks at Topps with a dilemma.  Do they print the 1974 set with the players in Padres uniforms and just leave it as San Diego on the cards, or do they try to announce a rumored franchise move?  Well, they did both, sort of.  13 of the cards featuring Padres players were also printed with a WASHINGTON "NAT'L LEA" designation where the team name should be on the card.  Here's the version featuring Wille McCovey.

Well, the Padres were sold and stayed in San Diego which makes these variations a fun look at baseball history. The variations aren't that expensive to acquire with the McCovey topping out at around 30 bucks.  However, I can't help to think how expensive a WASHINGTON "NAT'L LEA" variation would have been on card #456.  #456 is Dave Winfield's rookie card.

Until next time folks, remember that August is an exciting month in the Longball League.

-The Commissioner

Weeks 16 & 17

Hey All,

Welcome back to the blog after the commissioner took his All-Star Break. Let's take a look at all the action in the Longball League.

Roster Moves

7/22/2013
The Invisible Hands picked Y. Darvish- TEX back up after an injury and dropped J. Verlander- DET.

7/23/2013
The Tax Dodgers picked Y. Darvish- TEX back up after injury and dropped J. Verlander- DET.
The San Pedro Sea Monkeys dropped Jason Grilli-PIT due to injury and picked up C. Kimbrel-ATL

Who's Hot/Who's Not

Hitters
Hot: Cleveland's Michael Born had two HR, 10 RBI week.

Not: Albert Pujols, like the Angels, is not hot.  His foot injury means that we'll see Albert again in 2014..

Pitchers
Hot: The Marlins' Jose Fernandez won both his starts this week while fanning 21 batters along the way.

Not: Jason Hammel went 0-2 for Baltimore while walking 9 batters in those games. I guess that's why is WHIP is 2.21 for the week.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. This is the first time since 1965 that no former living player will be inducted into the Hall of Fame. Wow, that is sad.

2. Manny Machado of the Orioles is on pace for over 220 hits this season.  There are only three other active major leaguers to record 220+ hits in a season.  They are Ichiro, Michael Young, and Juan Pierre.

3. Don Larsen could have been Bill Bevens.  Huh?  It's well known that Don Larsen threw the only perfect game in World Series history, but the first no-hitter cold have been thrown by the Yankees Bill Bevens in 1947.  With two out in the ninth, Brooklyn's Cookie Lavagetto doubled off Bevens that not only broke up the no-hitter, but won the game for the Dodgers.  Bevens went from the top to the bottom in one pitch.

Cool Baseball Card set of the Week: 1969 Topps

The 1969 topps set is the last set of the 1960s and it completes an awesome decade of card production for Topps.  All the sets from 1960-69 are great.  The 1969 set features the awesome quirkiness and great players that make the set a collectors' favorite.  As far as rookies go, the top rookie in the set is Reggie Jackson. Here's how he looks on card #260

The there's the sophomore class in the majors withe second cards of Nolan Ryan #533 and Johnny Bench #95.

               

Then there's the final card of Mickey Mantle #500.

Funny how you can chart the grand passage of time through baseball cards.  Oh, and the quirkiness of this set comes into play with this last Mantle card.  There were many errors and variations in this set.  The major one is that a handful of the cards hand name color variations.  Most of the Mantle cards have  The Mick's last name printed in Yellow.  A scant number have his last name printed in white. Ungraded the regular "Yellow Letter" Mantle can go for around 300 dollars.  The "White Letter" version usually goes for around 2,000 dollars.  Graded ones in a an 8 or 9 have gone for astronomical cash.

Until next week folks remember that if Nelson Cruz gets nailed for PEDs, Manny Ramirez may be called up by the Rangers.

-The Commissioner

Week 15

Hey All,

The Commissioner is back form a great trip Chicago where he crossed US Cellular Field and Wrigley Field off his bucket list. Now, it's time to check out the workings of the Longball League as we head into the All-Star Break.

Roster Moves

7/8/2013
The San Pedro Sea Monkeys dropped A. Soriano WAS and picked up J. Grilli PIT

7/10/2013
The AngelSox and the Tax Dodgers both dropped Y. Darvish TEX and picked up J. Verlander DET

7/11/2013
The Invisible Hands dropped Y. Darvish TEX and picked F. Hernandez SEA

Who's Hot/Who's Not

Hitters
Hot: Texas slugger Adrian Beltre hit .407 for the week with 3 HRs, 8 RBI and didn't strike out in 30 plate appearances.

Not: Oswaldo Acia of the Twins hit .045 for the week with 12 strikeouts and didn't walk once.

Pitchers
Hot: Tim Lincecum threw a no-hitter. 'nuf ced.

Not: Joe Blanton went 0-2 with an ERA of 10.00 and gave up five home runs for the Angels this week.


This Week's Five Cool Things- Wrigley Field and US Cellular Field

1. Watching the lineup for bleacher seats at Wrigley was very cool. I believe the bleachers at Wrigley are the last General Admission seats left in the Major Leagues. The cool part wasn't the people in line, it was watching the people holding spots in line for others who where making runs 40 feet across the street to Murphy's Bleachers for brats and drinks from their walk-up window.

2. Hey, you gotta love a bar with a batting cage!  Sluggers, and several other Wrigley hangouts have batting cages.  That's just pretty awesome.

3. I know one has been approved for the next season, so I'm glad I saw Wrigley Field before a vision board is put in.

4. People say US Cellular isn't that great of a yard, but hey it is 1,000 times better than the Oakland Coliseum.

5. It was great to see baseball tailgating at US Cellular Field.  White Sox fans have it down pretty good.

Cool Baseball Card of the Week: 1961 Post Cereal #4- Mickey Mantle

The Post Cereal baseball card sets of the 1960s are hailed by many collectors as the greatest food company issued sets of all-time.  The 1961 set consisted of 200 cards.  However, with variations from different print runs the set numbers about 350 cards. It's a fun to build if you want o get a vintage set for an inexpensive price.  A regular 1960 Topps set goes for about 5,000 dollars in NM-MT condition, while a high grade Post Set can be built for about 2,000 dollars.  Oh, yeah this card of Mickey Mantle is pretty cool too.


Until next time folks, remember that the Longball League season is almost 2/3 over.

-The Commissioner

Week 14

Hey All,

While Buster Posey batted out of order, this column is always in order. Here's what's up in the Longball League this week.

Roster Moves
6/30/2013
Taylor Run Red Foxes drop Adam Laroche-WAS and Re-Ad Bryce Harper -WAS

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: Robinson Cano hit .400 with 4 HR and 11 RBIs for the Yankees this week.

Not: Albert Pujols had hit no HRs and drove in just two runs for the Angels.

Pitchers
Hot: Oakland's Grant Balfour earned 4 saves with a an ERA of 0.00 this week.

Not: Seattle's Jeremy Bonderman gave up 10 earned runs and lost two game with an ERA of 10.80 and a WHIP of 2.40.

Cool Baseball card of the Week: 1963 Topps #473 Mets Team

The 1962 New York Mets set the record for worst modern day season by team when they went a staggering 40-120 in their expansion season. How bad was this record they finished 60.5 games behind the Giants who won a three game playoff over the Dodgers to claim the NL pennant.  The Mets awful season is recorded in great detail on he back of their 1963 Team Card.  Back then, Topps was always doing different things on the backs of team cards.  It just so happens that 1963 was the year they decided to breakdown each team's 1962 campaign on the back of their team cards.  So here for your viewing pleasure folks, is the breakdown on back of this card about how that 40-120 record was achieved.    Hey look! The Mets went 9-9 against the Cubs.  That's almost 25% of their victories.  Also, it's unusual to see a starting staff that all lot between 17 and 24 games each.  Oh, those hapless Mets.

Until next week folks, remember that you have to check that dugout lineup card before you step up to the plate.

-The Commissioner

Week 13

Hey All,

July is here!!!!!!!  Time for fireworks and July 4th baseball!!!!  Here's what's going on in the Longball League.

Roster Moves
The Tax Dodgers used a roster move to drop Justin Verlander-DET and pick up Yu Darvish-TEX.

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: Chris Davis.  Do I need to say more?

Not: Philadelphia's Ryan Howard went hitless in 18 At-Bats with 11 strikeouts this week.

Pitchers
Hot: Aaron Crow of Kansas City won two games this week with an ERA of 0.00 in 13 innings pitched.

Not: Astros hurler Lucas Harrell went 0-2 this week allowing eight earned runs and walking six in 10 1/3 innings pitched.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. Moving for a discount.  When MLB realigned for the 2013 season, somebody had to jump to the AL so that there would be 15 teams each in the AL and NL. The Houston Astros jumped at the chance..  Why?  When the Astros went up for sale, MLB gave prospective new owner Jim Crane a 70 million dollar discount. He agreed, bought the team for less and now the Astros are in the AL West.

2. Talk about a long days journey into night; Thw White Sox lost both games of a twi-night double header to the Indians on Thursday that lasted over eight hours. The Sox lost the first game, 19-10 and lasted 4:02. The second game went 3:51 with a :25 rain delay which the Sox lost 9-8.

3. Michael Cuddyer has a 27-game hitting streak going.  That's not really trivial and he's almost half way to Joltin' Joe.  I better watch some Rockies games this week.

Cool Baseball Cards of the Week: 1971 Topps #554 Lowell Palmer, and 1979 Topps #516 Champ Summers.

This week, I salute the common card.  The common card in the collecting world is a card of a player not regarded as a star player.  Common cards are the backbone of all big sets.  The one thing to remember about the common card is that each card is of someone who made it to the big leagues. Here's a look at a couple of cool common cards.

Lowell Palmer amassed a forgettable 5-18 record in parts of five seasons in the bigs. However, this card with him sporting those cool shades will live on forever.

If I was going to create a fictional baseball player, Champ Summers would be an awesome name.  His real name is John Junior Summers, but hey, when you see the name Champ Summers, that just screams baseball player.  Champ played in parts of 11 seasons for six different teams with 54 HRs and 218 RBIs.

Until next week folks remember there is only two months left of the Longball League regular season.

-The Commissioner

Week 12

Hey All,

Summer is officially here.  The All-Star break and the dog days of summer will be upon us before we now it.  Here's the haps in the Longball League.

Roster Moves
6/16/2013
The Tatooine Womp Rats dropped Ryan Braun (MIL) and picked up Prince Fielder (DET)
The Sierra Vista Coachwhips and the Thunder Mountain Lightning dropped Ryan Braun (MIL) and picked up  Edwin Encarnacion (TOR).

All moves were injury moves.

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: Jay Brice hit seven HRs for the Reds this week.

Not: Josh Hamilton. It seems it's always Josh Hamilton this season.

Pitchers
Hot: Steve Cishek of the Marlins picked up four saves with an ERA of 0.00 in 3.1 IP.

Not: Jonathan Papelbon picked up three blown saves for the Phightin' Phillies.

This Week's Three Trivial Things...

1. He hit the ball through the wall.  Well, he almost did.  Pittsburgh's Tony Sanchez ended up with a ground rule double v. the Angels on Sunday when launched a line drive into the right field wall at the Big A.  Not off the wall, into the wall.  The ball hit the wall and stuck like a dart in the out of town scoreboard. Take a look, it's the white dot above the V in MOVING.

2. Josh Hamilton's bad night is now the stuff of legend.  In a 3-2, 10-inning loss to the Mariners last Tuesday, Hamilton went 0 for 5.  He hit into three double plays in his first three at bats, and then struck out his last two times up.  Hamilton stranded seven runners on base which is two shy of the team's total for the night.  Hamilton's bad night achieved legendary status when it was discovered he's only the second player since 1916 to hit into three double plays and strike out twice in the same game.

3. I've found a new stat to play with.  Well, at least new to me.  It's called WPA, which stands for Win Probability Added.  It measures the percentage by which a player improves or worsens his team's chance to win a game.  So, add up all the percentages in a starting lineup and it should give you an idea of how a game will go.  I mention this stat because Josh Hamilton's WPA is -.477.  That means the rest of the squad needs to overcome his futility.  By just being in the lineup, Hamilton diminishes the Halo's chance to win by 47.7 per cent!

Not So Cool Baseball Cards of the Week: 1987 Topps #321 Mike Laga, and 1987 Donruss #293.

Topps has an awful reputation for airbrushing photos and turning them into horrible cards.  Mike Laga's  1987 Topps card is one of the worst ones they ever did.

Why Topps couldn't just get a picture of Laga in a Cardinals uniform is baffling. Donruss got it right.

Oh well, laziness on the part of Topps equals a card that gets an unusual amount of attention. That pink jersey is just goofy.

Two Cool Reads

Pam and Liza have sent me a couple of great articles over the last two weeks.  The first one deals from the Washington Post deals with the ritual of batting practice.  The second one deals with how Vin Scully almost ended up being the voice of the Yankees.

A daily ritual

Vin's free agency

Until next week folks, remember that a team can't scoreboard watch until they start winning.
-The Commissioner

Week 11

Hey All,

Happy Father's Day to all the fathers in the league.  I was especially happy to receive a cake in the shape of catcher's mitt with a cupcake shaped like a baseball in the pocket.  I am a very lucky uncle indeed.  Here's a look at the league this week.

Roster Moves
None

Who's Hot/Who's Not

Hitters
Hot: Washington's Ian Desmond had a home run and nine RBIs while hitting a red-hot .500 this week.

Not: While trying to fend off the Biogenesis Clinic scandal, Ryan Braun then gets hurt and goes on the 15-Day DL.

Pitchers
Hot: Edwin Jackson won a pair of games and struck out 15 batters for the Cubs this week.

Not: Tampa Bay's Matt Moore gave up 13 earned runs in 10 1/3 IP in two losses this week.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. It was a big brawl that featured some big stats. When Dodger skipper Don Mattingly and Hitting Coach Mark McGwire were going toe-to-toe with Diamondback Manager Kirk Gibson and Bench Coach Alan Trammell I did some quick stat math.  That part of the brawl represented 7,210 hits, 4,601 RBIs, and 1,438 home runs. Wow.

2. This is from the weird stat department, The Angels beat the Orioles on Wednesday, 9-5.  Mike Trout did not have good day going 0 for 5.  It was the fifth time in his very young career that he has gone 0 for 5 in a game.  The Angels have won all five of those games in which wore the 0 for 5 collar.

3. Well, that's what I call togetherness.  The A's and Mariners had to share the Raiders locker room after Sunday's game at the Oakland Coliseum.  Oakland won the game, 10-2, but proponents of a new stadium were the real winners as sewage and other unknown pools of water flooded both baseball locker rooms.  It showed once again that the Oakland Coliseum still holds the title as worst ballpark in the majors.

Cool Baseball Cards of the Week: 1987 Donruss Opening Day #163a  Barry Bonds (Johnny Ray),
163b barry Bonds (Corrected)

26 years ago, Donruss had a pretty cool idea.  They produced an Opening Day set.  The set consisted of a card for each member of the starting lineup of each MLB team on Opening Day 1987. Here's what the factory packaged set looks like...

After the set had been released, one of the biggest error cards of the last 30 years was discovered.  Here's card #163a Barry Bonds...

Ummmm, that's not Barry Bonds.  That's Johnny Ray.  Johnny Ray actually played second base that day for the Pirates and has his own card.  It's #162.  That's right folks, on the printing sheet it sits right next to the error card and nobody caught that the same face was on two consecutive cards.   Here's the corrected version #163b...

The ironic thing about these two cards is that corrected version of the card can be had for around 10 bucks.  Meanwhile, the error card can go for as high as 2,000 dollars graded in NM-MINT condition.  That means Barry's most expensive rookie card doesn't even feature Barry. Kind of like a career that was marked with artificially enhanced achievements.

Until next week folks, remember that stealing third base is harder to do than second.

-The Commissioner

Week 10

Hey All,
School is out all over the nation and summer calls to us in the form of sunny days, barbecues, and baseball.  Here's whats going in the Longball League.

Roster Moves
6/3/2013
The A Team dropped Bryce Harper WAS and picked up Miguel Cabrera DET
The Tax Dodgers dropped Jose Bautista TOR and picked up C. Davis BAL
The T.M. Lightning dropped Bryce Harper WAS and picked up Miguel Cabrera DET

6/4/2013
The A Team dropped Matt Kemp LAD and picked up Yasiel Puig LAD
The Hot Shots dropped Matt Kemp LAD and picked up Yasiel Puig LAD

Who's Hot/ Who's Not

Hitters
Hot: Yasiel Puig had a pretty good debut this week hitting 4 HR with 10 RBI and a .464 batting average for the Dodgers.

Not: All other Dodger outfielders.  Someone is gonna find a lot of bench time in his future.

Picthers
Hot: Chris Tillman won a pair of games and K'd 13 hitters this week for Baltimore.

Not: Matt Moore lost a pair of games while giving up 14 earned runs in seven innings pitched for Tampa Bay.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. I have never come close to catching a foul ball, much less a home run ball at a major league game. I'm incredibly envious of the guy in deep center field at Fenway Park who caught two home runs on Sunday as the Red Sox smacked the Angels, 10-5.

2. It usually occurs less often than triple plays or no-hitters each season, but a case of catcher's interference popped up in game one of the Angels-Red Sox double header on Saturday.  In the eighth inning, Halo catcher Chris Ianetta got his glove in the way of  Red Sox batter Jacoby Ellsbury's swing and made contact with Ellsbury's bat. Ellsbury was awarded first base.  If you're scoring at home it, goes down as an error on the catcher.  I usually mark it as an E2CI.  One of the reasons I take note of catcher's interference each season is that I actually reached base that way in little league once.  With the way I hit, every time reaching base was treasured.

3. There were lots of zeroes in Seattle and New York this week.  The White Sox downed the Mariners in 16 innings, 7-5.  The game was scoreless for the first 14 innings.  Then on Saturday, the Marlins downed the Mets, 2-1 in 20 innings. That game was scoreless for a 14 1/2 inning stretch from the bottom of the fourth through the the 19th.  I'm a big baseball fan, but games like that drive me nuts.

Cool Baseball Card Set of the Week: 1963 Fleer

The 1963 Fleer set consists of 67 cards that matter more for what they represent than what they really are. The set features an attractive simple design with good photos.  Card #42, Sandy Koufax shows how great these cards are.

However, the legal battle behind the set is what makes it a classic.  Topps sued Fleer over the set, claiming that they had exclusive rights to make baseball cards due to the individual contracts that they had signed players to since 1951.  They also relied on the age old argument that there can only be one card manufacturer because there is not enough of a market multiple sellers.  Isn't that an interesting argument for a capitalistic society? In one of the dumbest decisions ever, the court ruled in Topps' favor and handed them a legal monopoly.  The monopoly would last from 1963-81. So, Fleer had to stop production and the set stands at 67 cards. For those of you interested, the most valuable card in the set is the 67th and last card in the set.  

Yup, the checklist is more valuable than Koufax, Willie Mays, or Bob Gibson. It was added in the final print runs of the series.  It took the place of the Joe Adcock card on the sheet so both are pretty scarce, but the checklist holds the best value with near mint ones going for around $500.

Until next week folks remember that you just can't buy a pennant.
-The Commisioner

Week 9

Hey All,

Wow, it's already June!  Let's take a look at the Longball League as the MLB season starts month #3.

Roster Moves
The Taylor Run Red Foxes made three injury moves on 6/1/2013

They Dropped:
B. Harper WAS
S. Strasburg WAS
M. Morse SEA

They Added:
P. Goldschmidt ARI
C. Davis BAL
J. Zimmerman WAS

Who's Hot/Who's Not

Hitters
Hot: Ryan Doumit turned in a 2 HR 10 RBI week for the Twins

Not: BJ Upton.  No numbers to put up here.  When management tells you it might be a good idea to work on your problems down at Triple-A, you're not so hot.

Pitchers
Hot: St. Louis closer Edward Mujica recorded 4 saves this past week.

Not: Colorado's John Garland gave up 10 earned runs in 10 innings pitched this week.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. Cubs pitcher Travis Wood helped his own cause in a big way v. the White Sox last Tuesday when he hit a Grand Slam off Jake Peavy.  The Cubs went on to win the game, 8-3.  It was the first Grand Slam by a Cubs pitcher since Burt "Happy" Hooton hit one off Tom Seaver on September 16, 1972. Yes, the Cubs did win the game, 18-5.

2. Houston is 0 for the O.  The Astros haven't beaten the A's this season.  They are 0-6 v. their new AL West rival.

3. Eric Wedge may be out as manager soon in Seattle. He may not get another job for awhile. His Mariner squads consistently rank as the worst teams in Seattle history as far as runs scored per game, batting average, and on-base percentage are concerned. Wow, that's going some knowing how bad Seattle has been throughout the years.

Cool Baseball Card of the Week: 1958 Topps #418- World Series Batting Foes

From time to time Topps enjoyed putting multi-player or "combo" cards in their sets.  These cards usually featured top players on a single team or opposing players on a card to spice up the set.  Well, pictured below here is one of the best combo cards of all time. The Hammer and The Mick squared off in consecutive World Series with Braves winning in seven games in 1957 and the Yankees returning the favor in 1958. Not a bad card, huh?

Halo Woes

With as bad as the Angels are playing, I sometimes wonder if Who really is on first, What is playing second and I Don't Know is on third.

Until next week folks, remember that high expectations and bad contracts can ruin a ball club.

-The Commissioner

Week 8

Hey All,

Happy Memorial Day!  Here's the latest around the Longball League.

Who's Hot/ Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: I don't even have to put the numbers up, Detroit's Miguel Cabrera is an offensive machine.

Not: Jesus Montero has worn out his welcome with the Mariners. The highly touted catcher came to the Mariners in a trade with the Yankees in 2012 and has never lived up to expectations.  He was optioned to Triple-A Tacoma this week.

Pitchers
Hot: John Lackey won a pair of games and fanned 13 for the BoSox.

Not: Jeremy Guthrie gave up 12 earned runs and picked up two losses in 12 1/3 innings pitched for the Royals.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. Hits are down, but time is up. The average number of total hits per game is at a low for the DH era. The last time this stat was so low was 1972, the year before the DH was instituted.  However, game time is up by about 20 minutes per game.  Combine these two stats and you have a recipe for boredom at the ballpark.

2. Boy, I thought dishpan hands were a problem . Ian Kennedy will miss his next scheduled start for the Diamnondbacks because he cut his pitching hand while doing dishes a couple of days ago.

3. There hasn't been a no-hitter yet this year, but one pitcher has retired 29 batters in a row. St. Louis hurler Miller threw a one-hitter back on May 10 where he allowed a hit to lead off the game then retired the next 27 batters.  Then, on May 15, he retired the first two batters in his next start before surrendering a baserunner.

Cool Baseball Cards of the Week: 1984 Fleer #182 Glenn Hubbard, #301 Tony Gwynn, #495 Jay Johnstone, #599 Darryl Strawberry.

The 1984 Fleer set has always been one of my favorites.  It has clean lines with a simple design that makes for an attractive card.  The set's strength is that it relies on good photos that combine with the simple design to make top notch cards.  Just take a look at the Darryl Strawberry and Tony Gwynn cards.

However, the set did have some cards that make you shake your head and wonder how some pictures ever made it onto a card.  The Jay Johnstone and Glenn Hubbard cards are prime examples of this.

The Budweiser sun hat that Jay Johnstone is sporting makes a funny picture, but just a goofy card.  As for Glenn Hubbard,  this is as bad as a baseball card can get.  Hubbard shares my opinion of this card.  For years he refused to autograph the card for fans and states how much he hates it quite regularly.  However, some autographed copies of the card have surfaced so either Glenn has mellowed over the years or the money is good on the card show circuit.

Until next week folks, remember that a pitcher's best pitch is strike one.

-The Commissioner

Week 7

Hey All,

Miguel Cabrera is looking like he's gonna make a serious run at another triple crown and there are several teams that are making a serious run at the Longball League crown.

Roster Moves

5/14/2013
The Eclairs dropped G. Gonzalez WAS and picked up A. Wainwright STL.

5/16/2013
The Sierra Vista Coachwhips dropped S. Strasburg WAS and picked up M. Scherzer DET

Who's Hot.Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: Seattle's Raul Ibanez had 5 HR 11 RBI week.

Not: What a surprise, Josh Hamilton. He had 1 HR and 1 RBI for Halos to go with a robust .216 BA.

Pitchers
Hot: Chris Sale went 2-0 with 19 Ks and a pair of shutouts for the Pale Hose.

Not: Jim Johnson allowed 7 earned runs in 1 1/3 innings pitched with 2 blown saves for Orioles.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1.This past may 17th is a great day in baseball history as two Hall of Fame players reached the 3,000 hit milestone.  In 1925, Tris Speaker became just the fifth man to hit that magic statistical plateau.  He joined Cap Anson, Honus Wagner, Nap Lajoie, and Ty Cobb. Then, 45 years later in 1970, Hank Aaron became just the ninth man to reach 3,000 with a first-inning single off the Reds' Wayne Simpson.  There are currently 28 members of the 3,000 hit club.  Yes, 28.  From 1869-1969 the club had only eight members.  So, 20 more players have reached that mark in the last 43 years.  

2. Let's now refer to Trivial Thing #1.  As the number of 3,000 hit clubbers dramatically expanded, 300 win pitchers declined.  However, not by much. Only 24 pitchers have won 300 games ever, and there have only been 10 men to reach that historic plateau in the last 43 years.  Another thing to remember is that 10 of men on this list achieved the feat in the Dead Ball era.

3. Break up the Indians!  The Erie Warriors are in first place in the AL Central.  Most scribes like to talk about Jason Kipnis as one of the main reasons for the Tribe's success.  Don't forget about 1B/DH Mark Reynolds.  He's got .909 OPS with 12 Hrs and 37 RBI.


Cool Baseball Cards of The Week: 1960 Topps #377, 1963 Topps #120

Ahhhhh, the depressing case of Roger Maris. By now, most baseball fans know the absolute hell Roger Maris went through in 1961 when he broke Babe Ruth's single-season home run mark. Now, what's also known is that Roger wasn't the most ebullient of personalities to ever play the game.  He was a hard-working quiet guy who just wanted to go about his job and be left alone.  The toll of his struggle to live through this time can be seen in his cards.  Let's look at his 1960 card.

Roger was never big on smiling. He was a pretty stoic guy, but he looks like a ballplayer taking one of many pictures a player takes during the season. Now, let's look at the 1963 card.

  

It's easy to see that Maris looks like a beaten man.  The New York media, the fans and the pressure of breaking, then trying to live up to being the player that bested The Babe's record has taken a heavy toll.  I ask you, does that look like a guy enjoys playing the game?

Just like the Babe

Evidently people around baseball believe that only does Bryce Harper have a sweet swing, he's go a swing that reminds people of the Bambino.  Check out this link from the Washington Post.  Thanks Pam of the Taylor Run Red Foxes for send me this story! 

That Sweet Swing

Until next time folks remember that there are plenty of mental errors made in the field that never show up  in the scorebook.

-The Commissioner

Week 6

Hey All,

I hope everybody had a happy Mother's Day.  Let's now take a look around the Longball League.

Roster Moves

5/6/2013
The AngelsSox dropped C.J. Wilson LAA and up Y. Darvish TEX

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: Evan Longoria hit three HRs and drove in 11 runs for the Tampa Bay Rays.

Not: Albert Pujols drove one whole run for the Angels.

Pitchers
Hot: Ubaldo Jimenez won two games and struck out 16 for the Cleveland Indians.

Not: Philip Humber lost two games, (one as a starter, and one out of the bullpen), allowed 13 earned runs on 13 hits and the lost his job.  He was designated for assignment by the Houston Astros on Sunday.

This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. At the 33 game mark earlier this week, the Dodgers checked in at 13-20, while the Angels sported a truly ugly 11-22 record.  According to the Elias Sports Bureau that is the worst combined start for both Los Angeles area MLB teams ever.

2. You never know what you're gonna see at the ballpark.  Last Friday night, Tampa Bay pitcher Alex Cobb had a rather weird top of the third inning v. the San Diego Padres.  He struck out four batters in the inning.  The first batter Cobb faced was Will Venable who reached base on Cobb's strike three wild pitch.  Venable then stole second as Chase Headley struck out.  Venable then stole third during Carlos Quentin's at bat.  After Quentin struck out, Yander Alonso stepped up to the plate.  Cobb then balked, which brought in Venable from third to score.  Then, to the end the inning, Alonso struck out.  That made Alex Cobb the first pitcher in MLB history to strike out the side and give up a run in the same inning.

3. This past May 10th marked an interesting anniversary of sorts for Hank Aaron. 46 years ago on May 10, 1967 Hammerin' Hank hit the only inside-the-park home run of his illustrious career. He did it in the 8th inning of the first game of a double header off Philadelphia's Jim Bunning.

Cool Baseball Cards of the Week: 1975 Hostess #s 28-29-30, Bert Campaneris, Pete Rose, and Buddy Bell

As if the moms of America didn't have enough trouble keeping their kids from begging for junk food in the supermarket back in 1975, Hostess added baseball cards to their "Family Sized" boxes of Twinkies, Ding Dongs, Cupcakes, and Suzy Q's. The set was issued as three card panels on the bottom of the boxes.  The set totaled 150 cards, so you'd need to buy 50 boxes to complete the set. For those of you scoring at home, that would mean you would have to buy:

A. 400 Suzy Q's or Cupcakes (8 per box)
Or
B. 500 Twinkies (10 per box)
Or
C. 600 Ding Dongs  (12 per box)

Needless to say, complete sets aren't so easy to find.

Of Salaries and Men

Luci, The GM of the Eclairs,  sent me this great link last week. If you ever wanted to check on how your team stacks up against other teams payrolls in MLB, check out this link from the LA Times. 

Look at all that money!

Until next time folks remember that sometimes even the umpires don't know the rules.

-The Commissioner

Week 5

Hey All,

It was another fun week in the majors.  The Tigers had a lot of fun at the expense of the Astros.  While the guys wearing the Olde English D were racking up stats, so were the teams in the Longball League.

Roster Moves

4/29/2013
The Tax Dodgers dropped J. Hamilton LAA and picked up P. Fielder DET

5/3/2013
The A Team dropped J. Hamilton LAA and picked up M. Trout LAA

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week

Hitters
Hot: The Tigers' Miguel Cabrera had a 4 HR, 13 RBI week.

Not: Josh Hamilton picked up one RBI this week for hapless Halos.

Pitchers
Hot: Another hot Tiger is Max Scherzer who won two games and struck out 18.

Not: R.A. Dickey lost two games and gave up 10 earned runs in 13 innings pitched for the Blue Jays.

This Week's Five Trivial Things

Why five?  It's in  honor of the Angles-A's 19 inning marathon last Monday night. Which, by the way, all  five trivial things will be about.

1. The 6 hour 32 minute affair was the longest game ever in regards to time for both clubs.  As far as innings, it was not.  The Angels have two 20 inning games (1971, 1982) in their history, while the A's went 21 innings with Senators in 1971.

2. Here's some crazy game totals. The two clubs combined for 156 plate appearances.  That breaks down to 141 at-bats, 12 walks, 1 hit by pitch1 sacrifice fly and 1 sacrifice bunt.  Also for stat geeks like me, nobody reached by interference or obstruction, but Halo SS Brendan Harris was called for obstruction in the second inning which allowed the A's Brandon Moss to advance from 2nd to 3rd.

3. The Best stat line in the game belongs to Albert Pujols who went 4 for 8 with 2 HRs and 3 RBI.  The record for most hits in an extra inning game is held by Johnny Burnett.  On July 7, 1932 he went 9 for 11 for the Cleveland Indians in a 18-17, 18 -inning loss to the Philadelphia A's.  He had two doubles and nine singles with just two RBIs.

4. The worst stat line in the game belongs to Josh Hamilton, of course!  0 for 8 with a sacrifice fly. Sad as 0 for 8 is, that's not the record for worst showing in an extra inning game. On June 3, 1989 Dodger CF John Shelby went 0 for 10 in a 5-4, 22-inning loss to the Astros.

5. The teams combined to use 16 pitchers in the game who threw a total of 597 pitches. Back on May, 1920 the Brooklyn Dodgers and the Boston Braves played a 26-inning, 1-1 tie.  The starting pitchers went the distance! pitchers Leon Cadore and Joe Oeschger combined to throw 664 pitches according to great people at SABR.

Cool Baseball Cards of the Week; 1966 Topps #s 159 Chico Ruiz, 370 Chico Salmon, and 594 Chico Cardenas

Hey it's time for the three Chicos!  With the great influx of latin ballplayers in the 1960s, The guys at Topps had no clue about the names of the latin ballplayers. They thought Chico was a just another latin name like Jose or Guillermo. That's one big reason why there are three Chicos in the 1966 set.

It's a cultural facepalm for Topps, but just a funny part of baseball card history. The most valuable card of the bunch is Chico Cardenas.  He's an elusive high-number in the hard to complete set and can command upwards of 50 dollars in Near Mint condition. 

Until next week folks, try not to swing at pitches outside the zone.

-The Commissioner

Week 4

Hey All,

Welcome to this week's edition of the Longball League Report or as I like to think of it, the week that the Commissioner's team moved in to the cellar. Ouch.

Roster Moves

4/26/2013
The Eclairs and the San Pedro Sea Monkeys both drop J. Hamilton LAA and pick up P. Fielder DET.

4/29/2013
The San Pedro Sea Monkeys drop J. Shields KC and pick up A. Wainwright STL.

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week

HItters
Hot: Ryan Howard hit two HRs and knocked in 10 RBIs for the Phightin' Phils

Not: Josh Hamilton turned in another 0 point week. This is a recording.

Pitchers
Hot: Matt Moore won two games and struck out 18 for the Tampa Bay Rays

Not: James Shields picked up exactly zero wins and struck out just four batters for Kansas City.


This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. Is it really spring? There have been 18 games postponed this year due to "inclement weather."  That's the most April games in one season postponed in MLB history.

2. There are two good backstops in the Show-Me state.  Most fans know how good Yadier Molina is for the Cardinals, but young Salvador Perez is turning heads with his work behind the dish in Kansas City.  He has bigtime potential with a knack for picking off runners.  Coming into 2012 he had eight career pickoffs to his credit.  That's more than any other catcher in Royals history.

3. The Cubs don't win much, but they keep it interesting.  All 24 Cubs games this year have been decided by four runs or less. That ties the Cubbies with the 1918 Cardinals for the second longest streak to start a season in MLB history.  The record for this kind of start is 33 games by the 1914 Tigers.

Cool Baseball Card of the Week: 1966 East Hills Pirates #21 Roberto Clemente

I have always had a fondness for what I like to call "oddball" card sets.  "Oddball" is not a hobby term, but my term for card sets that weren't made by mainstream national card companies like Topps or Upper Deck.  These sets could be either regional or national, but most were made for advertising purposes. They have a kitschy-coolness to them that appeals to me.  The above card is a great example of this quality. The advertising is far from subtle with the East Hills logo taking up about a quarter of this 3-1/4"x4-1/4" card.  Then, the photo is classic.  It's obviously a spring training photo, taken on a back field in Florida with small a stadium in the background.  It's not slick or sharp, it's just kitschy-cool.

Requiem for a society (or to paraphrase Paul Simon, where have you gone, Arnie Portacarrero?)

The Philadelphia A's historical society is about to be no more. The Society is shutting the doors, selling off all its' memorabilia and will be merged into the Philadelphia Sports Hall of Fame.  The reason is for the closure is simple.  There are few people left who remember the A's 1901-54 tenure in Philadelphia and even fewer left who played for the blue and white. The old adage that time is toughest adversary of all, rings true here.  So here's a cheer for everyone from Connie Mack's 100,000 dollar infield to the 1954 squad that lost 103 games. The society might be closing, but as long as organizations like SABR exist, the Philly A's wont be forgotten.

Until next time folks, remember that teams can't win the pennant in April, but they sure can lose one.

-The Commissioner

Week 3

Hey All,

There were no bench-clearing brawls, but it was another point-packed week in the Longball League.

Roster Moves

There were no roster moves in the Longball League last week.

Who's Hot/Who's Not This Week

Hitters

Hot: Mike Napoli had a one HR 9 RBI week for the BoSox

Not: Josh Hamilton did not help anyone at all, especially the Angels, with his scoreless effort.

Pitchers

Hot: Boston's Clay Buchholz won two games and struck out 17 hitters for the Old Towne Team.

Not: Philip Humber lost two games and gave up 10 earned runs over 7 1/3 innings for the hapless Astros.


This Week's Three Trivial Things

1. April 14-18 was a pretty bad five day stretch for the Mets.  The Mets were snowed out three times. Once in Minnesota and twice in Colorado.  Then, in the middle of those postponements, they suffered a there-game sweep at the hands of the Rockies. The worst of those losses was the second game of a double header where they blew an 8-2 lead and lost, 9-8.

2. Nobody told Houston it was gonna be easy coming over to the American League, but they didn't think it would get this bad.  On Saturday night, the Indians whipped the Astros, 19-6.  It was 14-0 Erie Warriors before the Astros got their first hit.  Wow.

3. Angels outfielder Peter Bourjos hit three infield singles in the Halo, 10-0 win over the Tigers Saturday.  He was only the second Halo to have three infield hits in a game in the last 10 years.  So, who was that other Angel?  It was Albert Pujols.  He did it as part of the Angels 4-0 shutout of Oakland on May 15, 2012.


Cool Baseball Card of the Week: 1909-1911 T206- Orval Overall

There has been much ado about the latest T206 Honus Wagner selling for a little over $2,100,000 at auction a week or so ago.  Personally, outside of it being regarded as the Holy Grail of baseball cards, it has never impressed me.  It's just not an attractive card.  Luckily, the T206 set is loaded with easily more affordable, good looking cards. Take a look at this card of old Orval Overall here.  He was a mainstay of the Cubs pitching rotation in their heyday on top on the National League in the first decade of the 20th century. The card is great looking with the orange light of sunset and silhouette of the grandstand painted in the background.  In addition to being great to look at, this card is also historically significant. the Cubs won the 1908 World Series in five games.  In that fifth game, Overall threw a three-hit shutout, which made him the last Cubs pitcher to earn a World Series-clinching victory for the Cubs.

Loving that schedule maker

With the new scheduling formula unveiled this year due to Houston's addition to the American League,  the Detroit Tigers really lucked out.  This week they made their only west coast trip all season.  They also play the NL East in interleague  play.  So, the Tigers will never make a longer than one time zone trip from April 22nd to the end of the season.


From an old copy of The Sporting News

While perusing the July 4, 1970 edition of The Sporting News, I came across this headline, Trojans Don NCAA Crown in Marathon.  USC had just won the NCAA baseball title with a 15 inning, 2-1 win over Florida State. USC's Jim Barr pitched eight innings of shutout relief to earn the win.  Oh yeah, and some guy named Dave Kingman played for the Trojans too.

Until next time folks, remember that almost all bases are stolen off the pitcher, not the catcher.

-The Commissioner